You betcha!

The only reason to watch the debate last night was the small possibility that a national candidate would melt under the klieg lights and do something that completely screws over their running mate.  Sarah Palin was about 50-50 to do it; Biden's odds were better, though he could have been equally destructive.

But, as predicted, both candidates were up to snuff.  Biden can still be a little ridiculous but he toned it down and focused on McCain.  Most of Palin's sentences were somewhat well formed, but, some were not (read down to No. 11).  

With expectations so low, Palin almost had to stare blankly for 20 seconds in order for someone to scream, "Gaffe!"  I mean, if you're only casually listening, it sounds like she's making all the usual points.  But when you break it down, what she really does is throw together a bunch of words semi-coherently then, when she's in a panic, throws in some sort of faux folksy nonsense, like "You betcha!" or "Gee, you know."

And she also says the word "also" way too much, and for seemingly no reason.  If she makes two points in secession, she just throws the also at the end of a sentence.  It sounds awful, but I bet her slight nervousness and the (supposed) charm of her accent more than cover for how dumb she sounds.

But I think people are wise to her game.  They know she was too good to be true (A hockey mom who can run the country!).  They see her for what she truly is (An ideologue and a zealot who doesn't have a strong enough grasp on what's going on in the world).

So I'm not too worried.  If anything, it just sort of prolongs the agony (More interviews!).